Convergence 2014, the 6th International Conference was organized by IFIM Business School on 9th & 10th January 2014 at the IFIM campus. The conference saw active participation from delegates from 10 countries thereby giving it a strong global flavor. A confluence between industry & academia, the event had several prominent speakers with the theme of the conference being “Ethical Leadership: The Indian Way”. Research papers were presented in 4 tracks namely, Leadership, Ethics, Ethics & Sustainability and Entrepreneurship. Also, there were 3 panel discussions held for this conference.
The inauguration ceremony was presided over by-
• Chief Guest- Mr. C.K Venkatraman, CEO Tanishq Jewelery Division and Chief Ethics Counselor
• Dr. Luk Bouckaert, President European SPES-Forum Belgium
• Mr. Prakash Sethi, Professor, City University of New York and Yale University Baruch College, CUNY, New York
• Mr. Raghunathan, CEO, GMR Varalakshmi Foundation
• Dr. R.S Nirjar, Executive Chairman- Board Of Governors (IFIM Business School)
• Dr. S Baskaran, Director- IFIM Business School
The key speakers at the inauguration ceremony
The inaugural was also graced by other eminent people from the academia and corporate. Mr. C.K Venkatraman delivered a very enlightening address where he spoke about the various initiatives that his company has undertaken for the betterment of people’s lives. Dr. Luk Bouckaert spoke about the shift to business spirituality and the rising interest in spirituality seeping into the workplace to address issues.
Panel Discussion 1 was based on the topic ‘Spirituality and Leadership’
The eminent panelists were-
• Prof. Peter Pruzan, Professor Emeritus, Dr.Polit. & Ph.D. Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
• Dr. Sanjoy Mukherjee, Associate Professor, IIM Shillong
• Dr. Subhash Sharma, Director, Indus Business Academy
• Dr. Katalin Illes, Principal Lecturer in Leadership and Development
The members of the 1st Panel Discussion
The panelists spoke about the importance of a spiritual element for a leader and how spirituality plays a key role in shaping their decisions. Prof. Peter Pruzan, emphasized on the fact that now is the time, more than ever before that there should be spirituality in leadership. Dr. Sanjoy Mukherjee spoke about great Indian leaders from the past from whom there is a lot to learn about ethical leadership.
Panel Discussion 2 was based on ‘Sustainability’
The eminent panelists were-
• Ms. Desirée Giler Mann, Trust & Compliance Officer for India / South Asia IBM
• Ms. Pushkina Nautiyal, Co-Founder, People n Purpose
• Dr. Nel Hofstra, Erasmus School of Economics, the Netherlands
• Mr. Maharaja Gokulavasan, Head- Service Delivery at Rural Shores Business Services
The members of the 2nd panel discussion
This panel discussion focused on how business models need to have sustainability as a key focus. Business needs to focus strongly on ethics and sustainability for the betterment of the society. The panelists stressed on the importance of sustainable business models and not just sheer profit centers.
Panel Discussion 3 was based on ‘Ethics and Media’
The eminent panelists were-
• Mr. Maheshwar Peri, Chairman at Pathfinder Publishing India Private Limited
• Mr. Ramu Patil, Chief Reporter/Special Correspondent,The New Indian Express
• Mr. Shankar Raj,Managing Editor, Trivone Digital Services
• Mr. Tarachand Wanvari, South India Head, Indian Television Dot Com Pvt Ltd
• Dr. Jagadish Rattanani, Editor at SP Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR)
The members of the 3rd panel discussion
This panel focused on how media/ journalism maintain ethics in their work. The speakers discussed about ethics in traditional media and also the challenges that they face in today’s digital world.
The conference also saw presentation of around 70 research papers by scholars and academicians, on subjects like
• Spiritual orientations to business in different Hindu/Buddhist traditions
• Contribution of spirituality to renew contemporary management theory and praxis
• Influence of spirituality and ethics on the commitment of people and organizations to sustainability and justice
• Promising ethical and sustainable business models in India to that of other parts of the world
• New leadership roles emerging in Indian business
• Meaningful way of inspiration of spirituality on entrepreneurship
• Similarities and differences between Indian and European philosophies of leadership
A glimpse of the institutions/ universities at Convergence 2014
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